But it was more than just that. Io was strong-willed, carefree, a rebel like she was. He understood her when not many did. Not only did he understand her need for freedom, but he knew how to treat her addiction, which was something her father refused to see. And he saw through her. He saw the lies she tried to tell herself about how she didn’t let her father control her—because he did. Even down to her cobalt use, her father had a hand in affecting her decisions. Io could see that, and he had forced her to see it, too.
Io filled all the empty spaces she had yearned for her father to fill since she was young. With him, she felt safe in a way she hadn’t felt at home in decades. Her father had abandoned her when she had needed him most, treating her more like just another of his subjects instead of his daughter. There had been a time when she had been able to count on him, but as she grew older and came into her womanly body, her father had distanced himself and had continued treating her like a baby. He didn’t understand that she needed him to let her grow up.
Io got that. Io treated her like an adult. Io would never baby her.
“I wish there was a way,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I wish things were different. I like how you make me feel.” She blushed and looked down at the sheets.
Io shifted toward her, and this time she didn’t push him away.
“I like how I make you feel, too.”
She could hear the mischievous smile in his voice and looked up to see his eyes twinkling knowingly at her. The look on his face made her laugh.
“Oh, do you now?” She playfully pushed against his shoulder.
“Oh yeah. Feeling you come against me, and knowing I’d given that to you….” He paused and took a deep, satisfied breath. “Well, it gave me pleasure to know I’d made you feel that.”
The tips of his fingers skimmed over the side of her breast and down to her hips.
“Stop that.” She slapped his hand away and gave him a warning look, but her mental fortitude was waning. If he continued to make such advances, she might reconsider her position on whether or not they should perform an encore.
He chuckled and pulled his hand away. “Fine. I’m stopping. I surrender.”
She lay down beside him and listened to him breathe, thinking about all that had happened since she woke up in a fit of itching and violent withdrawal.
“What happened to me, anyway? I’ve never had withdrawal like that.”
Io reached for her hand and she took it, liking how his strong fingers felt tucked between hers.
“The tonic I gave you earlier kick-started a detox. I won’t lie. Cobalt detox is a bitch,” he said, and then added, “More like a bitch with horns, a pitched fork, and who breathes fire. You sort of lose your mind on a cobalt detox.” He sounded like he was reliving old ghosts from his own detox.
“Well, thanks for the warning.” Miriam let out a heavy breath. “Is this what I get to look forward to after I leave here?” She sensed Io’s concern. “Don’t answer that,” she said before he could say anything. “I think I get the idea of what I’m in for.”
“The elixir I gave you helps curb the worst of it.”
“Too bad I don’t have your nasty-ass elixir at home.” She sucked her teeth and rolled her head toward him as he did the same toward her.
“Hey, it’s nasty, but it works.”
“So it does.” She couldn’t deny that. Within minutes of swallowing the vile concoction, she had calmed like a baby drinking from the teat.
They stared at each other, her thoughts filled with worry over how she would get through detoxing without his elixir—or him—to take away the violent withdrawal when it rose up as it had a little while ago.
“You could always stay here with me.” Io spoke softly, squeezing her hand. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll see you through.”
She rolled her eyes and turned away to stare up at the ceiling. “Yeah, right. As if my father would allow that.”
“He might. If we approach it right, your father might allow me to treat you.”
She looked back at him. Was he serious? Could they really convince her father to release her into Io’s care when he didn’t even want to admit she had a drug problem in the first place?
“I don’t know, but we could try.” She bit her lip, her mind alighting with hope.
The storm outside raged on, but Io was more concerned with the storm that seemed to be raging behind Miriam’s crystal blue eyes. Was she trying to figure out a way to convince her father to let him treat and care for her during her recovery? Even after all her protests about how they couldn’t see each other and how her father would destroy him if he knew what they had just done, could she now be searching for a way for them to be together just a little longer?
And a little longer was all Io wanted. Longer to see her, feel her, and imprint her on his soul and in his memories. He knew that after she left here the odds would be against them ever seeing each other again.
The thought angered a primal part of him that thrust itself forward in his mind, snarling at the idea of never seeing Miriam again. She was his, damn it. She belonged to him. He had a right to—
Whoa! Had he mated her? Io physically swayed at the thought. Was that what was going on here? Had his vampire instincts fired up to form a bond with Miriam’s already?
This was one area where vampires differed from humans. Whereas males of both species played the field in similar ways, a human marriage had nothing on a vampire mating. A marriage could be dissolved by a judge with a little slip of paper. A marriage could be ended in a blink if the humans got tired of each other or fell out of love. With vampires, there was no dissolving a mating. A mated pair didn’t grow tired of one another, and they certainly didn’t fall out of love. When two vampires mated, a link formed to tether them to one another on a level that transcended the physical plane and fused them into one on a spiritual and emotional level, which was why the loss of a mate left a male in a state of despair if it didn’t kill him outright. A mating was for life and plainly demonstrated the vampire race’s link to the animal kingdom.
How had he connected with her so quickly? It was too soon. Wasn’t it?
When he gazed back into her eyes, he knew he had to have her forever. His heart beat harder at the prospect, and his body warmed at the thought of seeing her belly swell with his child.
Damn, but Io was in it for real with Miriam. This was bad. Real bad. Because if she thought her father would blow a gasket over his giving her an orgasm, he would likely stroke out if he knew Io was forming a mating bond to her.
Armed with the knowledge that she was his mate, Io latched on to what little momentum he had going for him, because he had to find a way for them to stay together.
“It could work, Miriam. I can talk to Tristan and convince him that I can quietly see you through your rehab here.” He lowered his voice. “No one would have to know. We could keep it from leaking out into the community. Surely your father would appreciate that.”
She eagerly rolled to her side and propped herself up on her arm. Io could see her gears turning. Miriam was almost sold on the idea.
“It might work,” she said.
Io felt like they were conspiring to rob a bank instead of trying to find a way to be together.
“Of course it will.” He skimmed his palm over her hip, unable to stop himself from touching her.
Miriam drew him in like a field of wildflowers drew in bees. Intoxicated by everything about her, Io drifted and swayed against her as his hand explored lower then slid back up and under her shirt. He sucked in his breath when his fingers touched skin.
Miriam did likewise, her fiery gaze meeting his in wonder, but unlike before, this time she didn’t stop him.
“You’re not pushing me away,” he said, slowly easing his hand up higher.
“No, I’m not.” She gently dropped back to the mattress, biting her plump bottom lip as she stared at him and held her breath.
“Are you nervous?” He stared longingly at her lip. Her teeth stretched the skin in a way that made him want to take her lip between his teeth and suck it into his mouth.
She nodded. “A little.”
“Why?” The curve of his thumb and index finger found the lower swell of her left breast, and she breathed in sharply.
“Because you excite me so much.”
Io couldn’t contain his delight and smiled. “Is that a bad thing?”
She grinned shyly. “No, I guess not.”
“Then why does my exciting you make you nervous?” His palm cupped the underside of her ample breast and pushed, making the mound of flesh bunch and press against the T-shirt she was wearing.
His
T-shirt.
She squirmed and shifted, letting the fabric loosen so he could more easily feel her.
“Because I’ve never felt this way before.”
“Mmm.” Io liked hearing he was the first male to please her. The idea of guiding her through all the pleasures of her body when no other male had explored her path made his chest swell.
“You excite me, too,” he said. “And what you did earlier, coming like you did…that excited me.”
“It did?” Her back rounded as his palm eased up and over her nipple and his fingers squeezed.
She moaned.
“Yes.” Io leaned down and slowly rubbed the side of his nose against her cheek and inhaled long and deep.
She was heavily aroused. Just as she had been earlier.
Her legs parted and he slid one of his between them, his thigh rubbing against hers.
“What are you doing?” she said breathlessly, her voice soft and drowsy with lust.
“Showing you how good being excited can feel.” He dipped his nose against the tender place behind her ear and inhaled her scent again, making her shiver.
“I can’t…you can’t…we can’t do—”
“Shh, baby. I only want to touch you. Just touching. Like we did before, only more skin.” He released her breast and smoothed his palm over her flat stomach. She was firm, yet soft. Strong, yet feminine.
Io couldn’t deny that he wanted so much more than to touch her, but until she was ready for him, he would take his physical affection only so far. He hoped she wouldn’t make him wait too long, because if his
calling
phase struck him as quickly as the link had fired up between them, he would soon need her in the most extreme sense of the word. And once the
calling
claimed him, he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself from taking her body as often as his hormonal heat required him to.
She relaxed against his caress and moaned. “I like more skin. I like how you’re touching me.” The tips of her delicate, long fingers tickled a sensuous path up his arm.
He liked it, too. No, he loved it.
If she were any other woman, he would have had her on her back and her legs open already, his body plowing hers like fertile ground. But this was Miriam. Perfect, pristine, absolutely exquisite Miriam. The thought of taking such a female in so careless a way seemed criminal. And if she was, in fact, his mate, she deserved better than that. When he consummated his relationship with Miriam—and by God, he
would
consummate it—he would do so with the utmost care. He would worship her and treat her body like the precious treasure she was.
But for now, this was enough. Touching her skin and feeling her body shiver against his palm was plenty.
“You tremble for me.” His lips brushed against her neck as he eased his hand higher once more. Her stomach fluttered.
She responded by nodding and closing her eyes.
When Io’s hand covered her breast again, she tensed and groaned, breathing heavily.
“No male has ever touched your breasts.” He whispered the words almost reverently. “I’m the first.” He wasn’t asking. He already knew the answer, but proclaiming his unique status out loud made the moment more powerful and important.
She nodded, rolling slightly toward him and arching her back.
He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted as she panted. Miriam was unraveling in ecstasy before his very eyes.
He scooted closer and gently pressed his thigh against the apex of her legs. Her eyes blinked open briefly, but as soon as he squeezed the healthy mound of her breast at the same time he rocked his thigh against her core, she closed them again and gasped, her head dropping back to expose the graceful curve of her neck.
The knowledge that no male had ever touched her in this way had Io’s cock harder than a marble column. She was his. All his. Untouched and pure. So perfect.
Miriam’s erect nipple teased his palm, and from the looks of the peaked fabric over her other breast, she had marvelous nipples that rose like small towers at the crest of her heavy breasts. Io had to see them. He couldn’t stand feeling one beneath his palm and seeing how the other teased his T-shirt without letting his sense of sight partake in his exploration of her.
“I want to see you, Miriam. God, but I want to see what your body looks like under my clothes.” His voice was raw with lust, but he would keep his promise. He would not take her virtue. He would touch her, taste her, gaze upon her perfect beauty, but he would not violate her.
Miriam opened her eyes again, her gaze filled with curiosity, as well as the hint of something more…the thrill of rebellion, perhaps? She was breaking all the rules now, and it seemed the further she let him go, the further she wanted to take him.
She hesitated then slowly reached for the hem of the shirt and gradually pulled it up. Io held his breath, his gaze falling to her breasts, waiting for her to reveal them. Her skin was as pristine as he had imagined, unmarked and smooth, lightly tan and exquisite.
Higher the shirt rose until finally she bared herself to him.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, his voice rushing on a breath.
Her rounded, full breasts swayed as she lifted the shirt over her head then self-consciously brought it down to cover her chest, her skin flushing. Apparently, not only had she never been touched, but no male had ever gazed upon her naked flesh, either.
Io grinned. “I’ve already seen you. No need to hide now.” He gently tugged on the T-shirt.